Big Bend Regional Sierra Club
Regular Public Meeting
21 May 2002

MEETING OPENING AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:

With approximately 14 people in attendance, Chair Don Dowdey opened the
meeting at 7:05 p.m. in room 204 of the Academic Computing Resources
building on the Sul Ross State University Campus with the following
announcements:

Air Quality Update:

National Environmental Trust report: This report targeted Georgia,
Ohio, and Texas as examples of states that distort the law into a
"permit to pollute," and asserts that states cannot be trusted to clean
up the air voluntarily. Of these three states, Texas has the highest
number of permitted facilities at 65. However, the report accuses Texas
of violating the law's intent and short-circuiting public input. Texas
is masterful at crying "upset" or "emergency" to justify illegal
pollution without repercussion. One plant in east Texas reported well
over 300 "upsets" last year.

BART Activities: Over 300 organizations are to sign a letter to
Christine Todd Whitman of the Environmental Protection Agency
encouraging a strong BART rule and enforcement of the existing Clean Air
Act, with specific reference to air pollution at Big Bend National
Park. A similar letter will be mailed from 20 conservation and public
health organizations. Don distributed copies of two letters on the same
topic addressed to Administrator Whitman and encouraged BBRSC members to
sign and mail them individually. Although the EPA drafted a fairly good
BART rule, the Bush administration continues to work on a less stringent
rule, which will be out by mid-August. Congress ultimately must approve
the rule and we can expect a congressional campaign on this topic.

Rad Waste Update:

Sierra Club Conference: Don Dowdey and Gary Oliver represented BBRSC
at the Beyond Nuclear Power workshop held on April 27 at Lake Whitney
State Park, near the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, southwest of
Fort Worth. Participants from all over Texas as well as New Mexico
attended. A follow-up meeting will be scheduled in September. Funds
are being sought to hire a west Texas coordinator to work on rad waste
and other nuclear issues. Singer Bonnie Raitt will donate proceeds from
front row ticket sales at an upcoming concert in Austin in support of
the September meeting.

Sierra Club Report: The Lone Star Chapter has published a booklet
entitled "Mountain or Molehill: Low Level Nuclear Waste in Texas,"
available online at the Lone Star Chapter website. Fran Sage provided a
sign-up sheet for anyone wishing to receive a hard copy from the Lone
Star Chapter office.

Alternative Energy Report: Don made a copy of this report, written by
Tom "Smitty" Smith of Public Citizen of Texas, available for our
review. The report was to have been given at the Beyond Nuclear
Workshop, however Smitty was unable to attend. It focuses on
alternatives to nuclear power, ranging from conservation methods to the
use of new technologies.

Although it has been widely reported that 1200 sources produce nuclear
waste in Texas (a figure apparently introduced by Representative Buddy
West), according to the Bureau of Radiation Control, in reality the
number is 46. [Addendum: 53 locales currently store nuclear waste in
Texas.] Of the 43 producers, 1.4% are medical sources, 3.9%
medical/academics/industrial, and all of the waste generated annually by
these users would fit into a one-car garage. A total of 96.1% of all
nuclear waste in the state comes from nuclear power plants.

Nuclear waste destined for the Yucca Mountain dump site, under
development in Nevada, may come through Alpine on the rail corridor.

Highway Clean-up: Liz Hightower reports that 5 people spent 1 hour
and 45 minutes picking-up 11 bags of trash plus some metal objects from
BBRSC's adopted section of Highway 90 east of Alpine on Sunday evening,
May 19. That section of highway corridor is in noticeably improved
condition.

Brewster County Health Report: Fran Sage's summary of this report
will be published in her monthly newspaper column.

PROGRAM BY DR. BARNEY NELSON:

Dr. Nelson's program focused on themes of nature and the environment,
with special attention to predators, as they appear in literature. She
and other ecocritics believe that the stories we hear, from childhood to
adulthood, influence our political views. Ecocriticism uses an
integrated, interdisciplinary, non-hierarchical approach to evaluate
literature and the messages contained therein. Three major topics for
consideration are those of gender, race, and class. Animal stories
reflect gender issues - they are typically male-dominated, from Peter
Rabbit to Moby Dick, and there is a notable absence of female animal
characters. Issues of race were replete in early environmental
writings; e.g., Native American women were referred to as "game."
Issues of class are firmly embedded in a variety of ever-evolving
stories of the princess and the frog. Predators play a disparate and
often conflicting role in eco-literature and nature writing. For
example, the wolf has been portrayed as "good" (e.g., sly trickster,
Native American icon, spirit of wilderness, mascot as well as "bad"
(e.g., beast, thief, murderer, sexual predator). Dr. Nelson believes it
is essential to seek the truth about the elements of nature and that
nature writing should be honest. In terms of the wolf, we should ask
ourselves where the real animal ends and the imagery begin. There are
several tough issues embedded within the field of ecocriticism. Is
there a place for "bad science" for the sake of advocacy? How does the
exponentially-expanding human population peacefully co-exist with wild
animals? Can we justify trophy hunting of wildlife to raise money in
support of conservation initiatives? How can we hold issues of life and
in balance with one another, as nature intended, when we naturally tend
to fear death and exonerate life?

BUSINESS MEETING

A motion was made and seconded to accept the minutes from the April
BBRSC regular meeting. Motion carried.

Ginny Campbell's absence there was no treasurer's report.

Plans for a summer social are underway; details will be printed in the
next newsletter.